


Shedding Season

by Random_Inked_Thoughts



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Cute Ending, Fluff, Logan gets to low key infodump, M/M, Remus is only mentioned, Roman is a good boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24483949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Inked_Thoughts/pseuds/Random_Inked_Thoughts
Summary: He's still reeling from being accepted and the itching is new and annoying, but hey, at least Janus gets to stare at his boyfriend all day. Logan chimes in with some fun facts and helpful tips.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 186





	Shedding Season

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Usually I would post something like this to my sanders sides drabbles collection, but it got a bit longer than expected, so you all get this as a work of its own! WARNING: Since this fic includes shedding of some kind, there is a bunch of skin itching and picking imagery if y'all aren't cool with that. Oh yeah, Janus was accepted in this world and also Roman and he don't hate each other because I said so and I think that's very sexy of them. 
> 
> Me: wow, I hate scrolling through the intrulogical tag and finding roceit works where intrulogical is mentioned like, twice  
> Also me:

He was so itchy. 

Scratching at his neck absentmindedly, Janus wandered into their shared kitchen. He still marvelled at the little things sometimes, like the way Patton didn’t flinch every time he looked at him, or the way that instead of hissing at him, Virgil just continued sipping whatever blend of coffee and milk he was currently drinking. 

Suddenly, there were warm arms around him, and Janus realized he’d been dawdling in the doorway. 

“You shouldn’t pick at your scales, doll,” came Roman’s voice from behind him, still deep and gravelly with sleep. “S’not good for you.” 

“Morning,” Janus said with a smile, wrapping his own arms around the ones surrounding him already. “Sleep well?” 

“Alas, all of last night I was plagued with thoughts of you, I hardly got any sleep at all!” Roman responded, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Janus’ head. 

“Ah. so like a nightmare, then,” Janus said, smirking. 

“What? No!” Roman exclaimed, alarm crossing his face. “Oh my gosh, no!” 

“Relax, I’m joking,” Janus replied, turning around on tiptoes to kiss Roman’s nose. 

“Disgusting. Can’t a man drink his coffee in peace?” Virgil piped up, wrinkling his nose. 

“Aww, come on Virge, I think they’re kind of cute!” Patton said with a grin, setting their only slightly burnt eggs on the table. 

Janus resisted the urge to scratch all throughout lunch, though his face and arm continued to tingle with an almost pins and needles sort of feeling. It wasn’t until they were all sitting on their couch that the urge to scratch got really bad. 

It was a good thing that Janus’ willpower was so strong. 

“Doll, what’s wrong?” Roman finally whispered, looking down at him in concern. 

“Nothing,” Janus replied, looking up at his boyfriend in confusion. They were watching a movie, some old action film that they’d seen a million times. “Why?” 

“You’re like… rubbing your face against my arm,” Roman said, a bit confused. 

“Sorry,” Janus muttered, flushing a brilliant red.  _ Shit.  _ He hadn’t even realized he was moving at all.  _ So much for willpower.  _

From then on, it became a game of ‘will I won’t I’. Every couple of minutes, Janus could feel his fingers twitching, itching to scratch the itch that had spread evenly across the entire left side of his body. Even the patches of skin felt slightly itchy. Roman’s hand would occasionally slam down over his own, preventing him from tearing at the skin and scales. 

“Don’t,” he whispered, looking worried. “Logan explained it all to me. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but picking and scratching at your own scales isn’t good at all in the long run.” 

Janus just let out a sign close to a whine and resigned himself to the itchiness. The fact that Roman was completely right didn’t make it any easier. 

It was only a couple of hours later when his left eye glazed over completely. 

Janus almost dropped his book in his surprise. He had been feeling his vision dampen in that eye for a couple of hours then, but he had chalked it up to nothing more than fatigue. Besides, next to the itching, the problem with his eye was nothing. 

“Logan!” he called out in his alarm. It was the first thing he could think to do. Ignoring Roman’s cries of “Janus, what’s wrong?” he bit his lip and summoned Logan. 

The logical side staggered as he rose up, catching his balance on the nearby bannister, his entire face bright pink. “You… summoned me?” he said, still a little off balance. Whoops. He’d have to get better at this whole calling others in thing. 

“I can’t see,” Janus blurted out, “My entire left eye. I can’t see out of my left eye.” 

“I see,” Logan said, then stifled a small giggle, covering his mouth immediately. “I apologize, that joke was in poor taste. I don’t exactly know what came over me just then.” 

“You giggled,” said Roman suspiciously. 

“I most certainly did not.” If Logan’s face was red before, it was a burning scarlett hue now. “Janus, when did this problem originate?” he deflected, focusing on the problem at hand. 

“An hour or two ago, it got worse as time went on,” Janus said with a shrug. “I don’t think it’s a super big deal.” The lie slipped out in his nervousness. 

“Falsehood,” Logan said, walking closer to him and squinting at his face. “You would not have called me here if you were not even the least bit concerned about your... ailment.” 

“Fair enough,” Janus murmured. Next to him, Roman’s hand slipped into his own. 

“Well, as concerned as you do appear to be, this ‘problem’ is not a problem at all,” Logan finally said. “I’m going to touch you now, please do not panic.” 

Janus nodded slowly and watched as Logan’s slender fingers reached out and wrapped around his left arm, the one that had been bothering him all day. Logan’s other hand reached out as well, blunt nails scraping at the scales for only a moment before they caught on something, the white film overtop them pulling away like torn paper. 

“Holy shit,” Roman breathed out, watching as Logan carefully pulled the rest of the section of dead skin off of Janus’ scales. 

“See, you’re not in any real danger, you’re simply shedding your epidermis,” Logan said cheerfully, holding up the strip of skin with a smile. 

There was a long pause, during which Janus and Roman stared at him with a mixture of horror and fascination. 

“But why is this happening now?” Janus finally asked. “I mean, snakes usually shed more than once every thirty years or so, no?” 

“That is correct, adult snakes shed an average of two to four times per year, though growing snakes may shed as often as once every two weeks,” Logan said with a nod. “Then again, you are not a snake. Sure, you may exemplify certain characteristics of a snake, such as the scales and fangs, but you certainly don’t have a forked tongue, and as of the last time I checked, you still had two legs.” 

Roman rolled his eyes. “Well yeah Specs, we know he’s not a snake. Give us some credit. We aren’t  _ that _ dumb.”

“You once tried for thirty minutes to push a door labeled pull open,” Janus said with a look in Roman’s direction that could only be described as fond. 

“Furthermore,” Logan continued, “Snakes shed their skin all at once, leaving one complete, unbroken shed. That is, if conditions are ideal. Not every shed comes out perfect.”

“Your point being?” Janus asked him, curious. 

“You lack the capacity to leave your shed in one complete, unbroken piece,” said Logan, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Your patches of scales are not all connected, and so you will never produce a completely connected shed.” 

“I’m devastated,” Janus replied, his voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm. 

“Since this is the case, I would recommend carefully picking away the different portions of shed to dislodge them from your scales,” Logan advised. “Usually, it’s not best to pick at a shed before it is ready to come off, but seeing as you are not technically real, it shouldn’t be as much of an issue for you, and it should simply relieve the discomfort you are currently feeling. Perhaps Roman can be of assistance with the portions of scales covering your back.” 

Roman nodded. 

“Thank you,” Janus said sincerely, giving Logan one of his rare smiles, despite the general discomfort wracking his entire body at the moment. 

“Of course, I am always happy to provide knowledge,” Logan said, returning the smile with another of his own. “If that is all I am needed for, I will return to my previous... activities.” 

“Hold up,” Roman cut in. “You never explained exactly why Janus was only shedding now, and never before.” 

“Well,” Logan said, thinking, “Shedding is usually brought on by growth, perhaps the growth that brought this on was not of the physical kind, but rather more mental.” Logan shrugged. “I can only hypothesize at this point, but perhaps this came as a result of your acceptance.” 

“Really, thank you,” Janus said with another grin, one of his tiny fangs glinting a little bit. 

“Truly, it was my pleasure,” Logan said. “But in the future, don’t hesitate to call on me again if you are experiencing any other newfound perks of your less human characteristics, I would love to take further time to examine them.” 

“Yeah yeah Pocket Protector, you can go back to making out with my brother now,” Roman said with a wave of his hand, sending the other boy away, his face flushing beet red even as he sank down. “Thanks again!” he called into the empty space where Logan once was. 

“Roman!” Janus chastised lightly. 

“What?” Roman turned back to him with a grin. “Come on, did you see the look on his face? It’s  _ totally _ what he was doing, Remus told me the other day.” 

Janus rolled his eyes, shrugging off his black shirt. “Help me out here?” he asked, turning his back to the prince beside him. 

“Just your average day, pulling skin off of my boyfriend,” Roman says with an awkward laugh, and then his shaky fingers, usually so nimble, were on one of the patches of scales covering his back. 

Janus giggled, and yeah sure, it was a little weird, but if Roman hadn’t left by this point, he wasn’t going anywhere.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this work as much as I enjoyed writing it! I own a snake, so I had a fun time doing my best trying to describe the process she goes through, and Logan's entire character is always fun to put in stories, so I just slipped him in, like you do. (Please accept this I should be working on my other fic, Evermore, rn but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head)
> 
> For those of y'all who were curious, when snakes shed, they also shed some kind of weird eye covering with it, so that's why Janus' eyesight got all fuzzy. Ik it's probably not super accurate but for the drama of the story, I made it happen that way. Also they're imaginary. 
> 
> Drop a comment if you had a good time, or just want to, or have some fun snake facts of your own that you think would be cool to share! Y'all are always so sweet in this fandom, thanks again for reading!! :)


End file.
